1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for installing and retaining an input/output connector without tools. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for adding a transceiver to a module without tools by means of a retention beam that applies pressure to the transceiver, resulting in a coupling of the transceiver to a circuit board included in the module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Customers require a computer system to be scalable and serviceable. Providing a customer with the ability to add functionality as needed in a quick, cost effective manner, is very important, especially for server architectures. In addition, providing the ability for the customer to service the computer system himself has cost advantages over a manufacturer's representative servicing the computer system.
A computer system may be scalable from both a software standpoint and a hardware standpoint. From a software standpoint, a software company may load an entire software suite onto a customer's computer system, and then activate particular features of the software suite based upon customer requirements.
From a hardware standpoint, however, scalability is not as straightforward. Depending upon the type of computer system, a customer may “overbuy” their current needs in anticipation of growth. For example, if a customer requires two ports of a 100 MB Ethernet switch, the user may buy an eight port Ethernet switch because of the low additional cost of the additional ports.
A challenge found is that for more expensive computer system technologies, overbuying is not a cost effective alternative. For example, in fiber optic computer systems, each fiber optic transceiver is relatively expensive, and a customer typically purchases only the amount of transceivers that the customer requires at the moment. However, a challenge found with this approach is that a customer requires particular tools to install additional transceivers due to the transceiver module's configuration, which results in poor serviceability.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method for easily installing transceivers into a module without the use of tools, resulting in increased serviceability.